Railway-signal



(No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 11.

A. 0. WHITE.

RAILWAY SIGNAL.

Patented July '1, 1890.

6! 3/ 3/ 1&9 I 5. a 6 llo ,0 65 fi ,8 V 6 '1 1 gf'w 3 WITNESSES: //VVNTOR: pm 4, a Maw Wang Q w W ATTORNEYS.

(No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2. I

A. 0. WHITE.

RAILWAY SIGNAL.

- far I!" -x k WITNESSES: X34? W. 7 INVENTOR- 2 6 21651; mzfi/cfm w W TWW5 a V ,LLWL .1,

A TTOH/VE Y 8.

(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 3.

v A. 0. WHITE. RAILWAY SIGNAL.

Nd. 431,300. Patented July 1, 1890.

W/T/VES8E8: IIVVEIVTOR:

W.%/YZM ax 25 71%;

WaDg/L% I BY MM 7 ATTORNEYS.

m: nonms Pc'nzns co. Pno'rwumu, WASHINGTON, o. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFI E.

ALBERT 0. WHITE, or AFTON, IowA.

RAILWAY-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 431,300, dated July 1,1890.

Application filed October 21, 1889. $erial No. 327,667. (No model.)

T0 to whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT 0. WHITE, of Afton, in the county of Unionand State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement inRailway-Signals, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

My invention relates to an improved railway signal, and has for itsobject to provide a signal of simple construction capable of beingmanipulated in a signal-house, so as to positively display any desiredcolored side of the signal to the train when employed as a semaphore andany desired colored light at night.

The invention has for its further object to provide a means whereby thesignal may hang very high, and the lantern may be-conveniently loweredtherefrom for the purpose of lighting and cleaning the same.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully described, and pointed outin the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar letters and figures of referenceindicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the signals attached to thesignal-tower, which tower is in vertical section. Fig. 2 is an enlargedperspective view of the body of the signal adapted for display by day.Fig. 3 is a plan view of the operating-table connected with the signal.Fig. 4. is a section taken on the line 00 so of Fig. 2 illustrating thelantern-bail in position within the body of the signal. Fig. 5 is aperspective view of the lantern-bail detached. Fig. 6 is a frontelevation of two lanterns connected at the top with their bails, thesaid bails being in section and represented as united at their bottomsby a swiveled bar. Fig. 7 is a bottom plan view of the swiveledconnecting-bar of the lanterns. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the vaneand bail, illustrating a modified form of the same. Fig. 9

is aperspective view of a modified form of bail. Fig. 10 is a sideelevation of the vane and bail shown in Fig. 8, and Fig. 11 is a detailview of the swivel-eye.

The body of the signal consists of a tube inner edges of the vanes arebeveled from the bottom of the tube 10 to a point a at or near the base,from which point the said inner edges of the vanes extendperpendicularly downward, as best shown in Fig. 2, for connection withthe outer face of a rectangular skeleton frame 12. By thus cutting awaythe inner surfaces of the vanes an essentiallyconical space is providedover the center of the frame 12 and between the opposed inner edges ofthe vane beneath the lower eXtremity of the tube.

Four vanes are usually employed, extending outward at a right angle tothe tube 10, and the upper edges of said vanes are also preferablydownwardly inclined or beveled, as illustrated at 13 in Fig. 2. Thevanes are colored differently upon opposite sides, one side, forinstance, being red and the other white.

lVithin the rectangular frame 12 two parallel rollers 14 and 15 arejournaled, the gudgeons of the rollers at diagonally-opposite ends beingjournaled in a slot 1 6 produced in the frame, and upon the projectingportion of each gudgeon a spring 17 is made to bear, the said springbeing secured atits upper end to the face of the most convenient vane.By this means the rollers are rendered adjustable to and from each otherto permit of the passage of an inclined or tapering body between them.

In connection with the body a lantern bail or handle 18 is employed,consisting of a rod a, as illustrated in Fig. 5, having an eye at itsupper end for the reception of a rope, chain, or cord, the lower end ofwhich rod is flattened and enlarged and twisted to a spiral shape, asshown at (L The base of the spiral is quite wide and perfectly fiat, andis pro Vided upon each side at each end with lugs or cars 19 and a hook20 between said lugs or ears.

The rod-section a is passed upward between the rollers 14 and 15 intothe tube 10, and as the said rod is drawn upward in the said tube thespiral lower section a in passing between the rollers 14 and 15 will beturned, "when carried to its farthest height, to a position at rightangles to that occupied by said spiral section when first drawn upward.

A lantern 21, of any suitable or approved construction, is attached tothe hook 20 of the spiral section, and when two signals are employedupon the one arm, as is usually the case, the lanterns are connected bya bar 22, as best shown in Fig. 6, which bar is preferably flat andprovided with a swivel-eye 23 at each extremity, the shanks of whicheyes extend below the bottom of the bar and are squared, while a spring24:, secured at one end to the said bar near each extremity, is

made to bear at the other end upon one side of thesquared portion of theswivel-eye, whereby the said eye is prevented from turningunnecessarily. The eyes 23 of the connectingrod 22 are attached to thelanterns through the medium of hooks 25, projected from the bottom ofthe latter.

When the lanterns are not usedas in the day-time, for instance-theconnecting-bar 22 is employed to unite the lantern bails or handles oftwo opposed signals, which is effected by causing the swivel-eyes 23 toengage with the hooks of the bails.

In connection with the signal I employ a tower 26, which is entirelyinclosed, except at the upper end, which tower is usually built fromwithin a signal-house 27. At the upper end of the tower a horizontaltubular arm 28 is constructed, closed at its outer end, which armextends in the direction of and over the track. The bodies of thesignals are held permanently in contact with the arm 28 of the tower,and in effecting this result the upper ends of the tubes 10 of thesignals'are passed through suitable apertures in the bottom of the armand are held to turn in said apertures, the inner projecting end of eachtube 10 being provided with an attached bevelgear 29.

Then two signals are suspended from an arm, two parallel horizontalshafts 30 are journaled in any suitable or approved manner within thearm, carrying at both ends a bevel-gear 31, the bevel-gear at the outerend of the shaft being adapted to mesh with the bevel-gear 29 of thesignal-body. The bevelgears at the inner ends of the shafts mesh withsimilar gears 32 upon the upper end of the perpendicular shafts 33,journaled in any suitable manner within the tower. To the bottom of eachof these shafts 33, which is square, a lever 34 is rigidly secured,which levers extend over an operating'table 35, located within thesignal-house. This table is illustrated in enlarged view in Fig. 3, andfor each lever a rack 36 is employed, the first rack being builtdirectly upon the table and the next upon the first rack. Each rackcomprises a bottom plate 1), colored to correspond with the colors uponthe face of the signal, as shown at b in Fig. 3, and above this coloredbase; of the rack a rod or bar 37 is located a slight distancetherefrom, conforming to the contour of the base, and in the under sideof this rod or bar 37 cavities or recesses 38 are formed, as shown indotted lines in Fig. 3, into which cavities or recesses the levers 34are forced when brought beneath said recesses by bow-springs 39, securedupon the base in front of the bar, as is also best shown in Fig. 3.

Beneath the table reels 40 are journaled in suitable brackets, and ropesor cords 41, at-

tached to the upper ends of the lantern bails or handles 13, are carriedup through the tube 10 of the body of the signals, over suitablefriction-rollers located in the arm of the tower, and from thencedownward over other friction-rollers at the base of the tower andoutward, one cord being attached to each reel, as best shown in Fig. 1.

In operation, when it is desired to display the red side of the vanes toa train, the lever Set of the signal to be operated is moved upon theoperating-table until it is brought into the red section of the base andforced by one of the springs 39 into the recess in the bind-' tached andthe signal is to be displayed at night, after the red semaphore-signalhas been displayed to a train, the rope, cord, or chain connected withthe handle or bail 18 of the signal is wound upon the drum, and thespiral lower section of the said bail or handle havin g the lanternattached is drawn upward between the rollers 14: and 15 of thesignalframe, and a red lightis displayed to the train. Whenever the redface of the semaphore is displayed and the bail 13 is drawn upward, ared light is displayed from the lantern, and

vice versa, with respect to the white side of the vanes. It is obviousthat by attaching I. the lanterns in the manner describedby slackeningthe cords, ropes, or chains connected with the lanterns they may belowered to the It isf urther obvious that by reason of the swivel-eyes.of the connecting-bars 22 of the lanterns both lanterns are heldsteady, and yet one lantern may be manipulated without interfering withthe signal to which it is attached.

In Figs. 8, 9, and 10 I have illustrated a modified form of vane andbail, in which the construction is materially simplified.

anchor consists of a horizontal body portion d, secured to therod-section a of the bail, as best shownin Fig. 9, and fiukes d and (1one located at each end of the body, the fluke cl being longer than theopposed fluke. The fiukes are curved upward and outward at each IIOground and readily lightedor filled, or may be removed, as occasion maydemand.

side of the rod-section of the bail, and the side edges of the flukesare beveled upward to a point. The bail is turned, as drawn upward, byone of the flukes contacting with the side of the longest vane, and asone fluke is shorter than the other the possibility of both striking thevane at once and stopping the upward movement of the bail is avoided.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby'Letters Patent- 1. As an improved article of manufacture, a signalconsisting of a tube, and vanes radiating at a right angle from saidtube and extending longitudinally of the same, substantially as shownand described.

2. In a railway-signal, the combination, with a tube having vanesradiating at right angles therefrom, of a bail comprising a rod providedwith inclined planes at one end adapted for contact with the vanes,substantially as shown and described.

3. In a railwaysignal, the combination, with a tube having vanesradiating at right angles therefrom, one set of vanes being of greaterlength than the other, of a bail comprising a rod provided with inclinedplanes at one end, adapted for contact with the lower extremities of thelonger vanes, substantially as shown and described.

4-. In a railway-signal, the combination, with a tower and shaftsjournaled in the same, of signals comprising a tube carried upwardwithin the tower and held to turn therein and connected with one of thetower-shafts, and a series of vanes radiating from said tube andlongitudinally arranged thereon, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

5. In a railway-signal, the combination, with a tube having vanesradiating at right angles therefrom, of a bail comprising a rod providedwith inclined planes at one end adapted for contact with the vanes, anda lantern removably secured to the end of the bail carrying the inclinedplanes, substantially as shown and described.

6. In a railwaysignal, the combination of a tower provided with ahorizontal arm, shafts journaled in the tower and arm, signals rotatedby said shafts, each consisting of a tube carried upward in thetower-arm, vanes radiating from the tube, and a bail comprising a rodadapted to slide in the tube and having inclined planes secured near itslower end capable of contact with the vanes, substantially as specified.

7. In a railwaysignal, the combination, with a tower provided with ahorizontal arm, a series of shafts journaled in said tower and arm, asignal having its body portion suspended froin the arm of the tower andheld to revolve therein, the said body consisting of a tubular centerand vanes radiating from the tube, a bail capable of movement in thetubular body provided with inclined planes at its'lower end, and meansfor attachment to a lantern, of a cord attached to the bail leadingdownward through the tower and its arm, an operating-table located nearthe tower provided with a base divided into colored divisions, leverssecured to the towershafts adapted to slide over the colored base, andreels adapted to receive cords leading from the tower, substantially asand for the purpose specified.

ALBERT 0. WHITE.

\Vitnesses:

BERT KEATING, J. S. CONKLIN.

